Music box cylinder and comb



April 9, 1957 B. c. ROEHRL MUSIC BOX CYLINDER AND COMB 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 8, 1953 12.5 Hi I]:

TNVENTOR ATTORNEY April 9, 1957 B. c. ROEHRL 2,787,927

' MUSIC BOX CYLINDER AND COMB Filed April 8, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I FIG.5

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w Y Ma W Haw/W ATTORNEY ll States Patent MUSIC BOX CYLINDER AND COMB Bruno C. Roehrl, Erie, Pa., assignor to Nosco Plastics, Incorporated, Erie, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 8, 1953, Serial No. 347,453

4 Claims. (Cl. 84-95) This invention is intended to produce a musical toy. Features include the music box drum and reed construction and a one direction drive for the drum which may be actuated by a shaft rotating in either direction.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side view of a wheeled musical toy, Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top view partly broken away to show the music box drum and reeds, Fig. 3 is a side view showing the unidirectional drive for the music box drum, Fig. 4 is a section on line 44 of Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a side View of one of the music box reeds, Fig. 6 is a top view of the reed, and Fig. 7 is an enlarged view showing the shape of the end surface of the reed which engages the music box drum.

In the wheeled toy shown in Fig. 1 the body 1 is shaped to represent a calliope. At the back is seated a figure 2 representing a clown playing the calliope. A crank 3 on the rear wheel carrying axle 4 is fixed to a lever 5 the upper end of which carries the head 6 of the clown. As the axle 4 rotates, the lever 5 moves up and down producing the desired animated effect. The vertical reciprocation of the lever 5 can also pivot the arms 7 and legs 8 of the figure. The particular animated effect obtained is not important.

The front part of the body of the calliope is split along the center line of an axle 9 carrying a music box drum 10. The axle 9 is journaled in ears 11 on the lower part of the body and the ends of the axle are covered by depending Walls 12 on the upper part 13 of the body. When the body is assembled, the walls 12 on the upper body part center the axle 9 and the drum carried thereby with reference to a supporting bar 14 carrying a plurality of reeds 15 which are variable lengths of music wire cast into and rigidily anchored in the supporting bar 14 which is suitably fixed to the bottom of the toy frame.

The music box drum is made in two frusto-conical sections 16 and 17 which are cemented together at the center and are suitably fixed to the axle 9. An important feature of the music box drum is the axially extending steps 18 of substantially constant diameter opposite each of the reeds 15. Projecting above each of the steps at the desired intervals are integral axially extending projections 19 which extend substantially the full axial width of the steps and serve to actuate or pluck the reeds as the music box drum 10 is turned. The spacing of the projections 19 of course depends entirely upon the tune to be played. These projections may be synchronized so that two or more reeds may be plucked simultaneously to play a chord. The frusto-conical drum sections can be easily and accurately molded and the projections on the various steps 18 can be accurately spaced so as to properly time or synchronize the plucking of the reeds.

As shown more clearly in Figs. 5, 6, and 7 the round music wire reeds have flattened ends 20 which are conveniently formed in a flattening die which at the same time cuts off the reeds to the desired length. The cutoff is arranged so that the burr side 21 is on the lower side of the reeds and the rounded upper side 22 which is inherently formed in any cut-off die is the side which eniCE gages the plastic projection 19 on the drum which plucks the reed. The extended surface provided by the flattened end 20 together with the rounded upper side 22. spreads the contact pressure over the surface of the plastic projections 19 so that localized Wear in the projections which might upset the timing or synchronizing of the plucking of the reeds is avoided. In order that the notes will be played in the proper sequence to play the desired tune, it is necessary that the music box drum 10 always rotate in the same direction. This is effected by a pawl and ratchet drive connection between the front wheel carrying axle 23 and the music box drum comprising a ratchet wheel 24 fixed to the drum section 17 and a pawl 25 at the upper end of a lever 26 pivoted at 27 on a crank 28 on the front wheel carrying axle. The lever 26 is of angular shape with the pivoted connection 27 at the apex of the angle. The lever 26 has an arm 28a extending rearwardly between guide pins 29 and 30 and provided at its rcarmost end with an enlarged head 31 which serves as a Weight biasing the pawl in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3 so as to bring the pawl into engagement with the ratchet wheel 24. The throw of the crank 28 is such that whenever the crank moves upward in either direction the pawl engages the ratchet wheel and moves it one tooth while whenever the crank moves downward the pawl moves downward into engagement with the next tooth. With this arrangement, the pawl always rotates the ratchet wheel 24 and the music box drum 10 connected thereto in one direction and cannot move the music box drum in the reverse direction. Since the riving force of the pawl is obtained by upward movement of the crank 28, the direction of rotation of the wheel shaft 23 carrying the crank has no effect upon the action of the pawl. This is important in childrens toys since reverse rotation of the music box drum which would play the notes of the tune in the reverse order would not produce the desired harmonious effect. Also a pawl and ratchet drive is essentially foolproof since it cannot be damaged by reverse rotation of the shaft. Furthermore, reverse rotation of the music box drum would bring the burr side 21 of the reeds 15 into contact with the plucking projections 19 and would result in rapid scraping and wear of the projections. The unidirectional pawl and ratchet drive of the music box drum accordingly prolongs the life of the toy.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A music box comprising a drum having a trusteconical peripheral surface made up of integrally united contiguous cylindrical sections of different radii in stepped relation along the length of the drum, integral circumferentially spaced axially elongated projections on the outer part of the cylindrical sections, a reed support spaced from the drum, round music wire reeds having one end flexed in said support and having free ends aligned with the respective cylindrical sections and projecting into the paths of said projections so as to he plucked as the drum is rotated, said free ends being flat and of greate Width and less thickness than the diameter of the reeds, and a drive for rotating the drum.

2. In a music box, a reed support, a plurality of round music wire reeds spaced along the support each having one end anchored in the support, and the free ends of the wires being flat and of greater width and less thickness than the diameter of the reeds to provide an extended surface for engagement by plucking members.

3. A music box comprising a plucking member having reed plucking projections thereon, a reed support having round music wire reeds with ends anchored therein and with free ends projecting into the path of said projections so as to be plucked as said plucking member is moved, a reversible driving member movable in opposite directions, and a unidirectional driving connection between the member only in a single direction no matter in which direction the driving member is'moved, said free ends of the reeds being flat and of greater Width and less thickness than the diameter of the reeds.

4. A music box comprising a drum having axially elongated reed plucking projections thereon, a reed support having round music wire reeds with ends anchored therein and with free ends projecting into the paths of said projections, said free ends being flat and of greater width and less thickness than the diameter of the reeds with the fiat surfaces parallel to the projections and a unidirectional actuator for rotating the drum comprising 4 a pawl and ratchet drive to the drum and actuating means therefor.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 474,370 Corthell May 10, 1892 519,816 Langfelder May 15, 1894 1,198,844 Hawthorne Sept. 19, 1916 1,638,327 Eckstein Aug. 9, 1927 1,961,369 Lauter June 5, 1934 2,478,602 Stein Aug. 9, 1949 2,504,666 Duncan Apr. 18, 1950 2,630,655 Duncan Mar. 10, 1953 

